Hospital kitchens 'fail standards'

14th August 2007

Almost 50% of all hospital kitchens do not comply with hygiene standards, according to a report in the Observer.

The newspaper says that data compiled as the result of visits by environmental inspectors showed that almost 46% of the 377 hospitals surveyed had "poor standards of hygiene". 11 hospitals had pest infestation and 68 did not comply with food storage regulations.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Failure to meet hygiene standards is unacceptable, and when there are problems we expect the local authorities responsible for inspecting and enforcing food hygiene regulations to take action."